Our rural communities with land for sale in Columbia County, Florida

In any kind of real estate, you’ll hear the term “covenants, conditions and restrictions” – or “CCRs” – used a lot. People who want 10 acres to build a rural homestead, though, are doing it to have more freedom and autonomy than they might in a typical urban or suburban community. Yet those buyers, understandably, also want to protect their land values. So CCRs are essentially the “rural rules” that help provide that balance. They cover only the “biggies” (like square footage of houses, setback requirements, offensive odors, etc.), and don’t get into the minutiae (your CCR, for example, very likely won’t give you height restrictions for mowing your grass). The goal is to create common sense restrictions that keep rural neighbors from being blindsided from something someone next door does.

Traditionally, that’s been the case – but not anymore. Take today’s farm credit institutions, for example. They were created specifically to help in the purchase of rural land. So they may offer buyers not only competitive rates with smaller down payments, but also can amortize loans at longer schedules than traditional lenders. Some banks and other lenders also offer “land and home” loan packages that allow you to finance your rural lot and new home build together.

Finding a good real estate agent is like finding a good lawyer or a good accountant: you hate to change them once you have them. But there are a couple of important advantages that rural land brokers can bring to the table. For example, they can help guide to the right sources of information about land use requirements and zoning. And when it comes to site-specific considerations, such as well and septic, they have a well of information (no pun intended) to draw upon. Plus, when it comes time to get additional contractors on board, they know who to call for land clearing, inspections, insurance, surveys, etc.